UK police deploying 6,000 specially trained officers this week as more far-right disorder expected

UK police deploying 6,000 specially trained officers this week as more far-right disorder expected
A broken glass window is pictured at a take-away food shop in Middlesbrough, north east england following rioting and looting the day before. (AFP)
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Updated 07 August 2024
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UK police deploying 6,000 specially trained officers this week as more far-right disorder expected

UK police deploying 6,000 specially trained officers this week as more far-right disorder expected
  • London’s Metropolitan Police Service said it would do “everything in our power” to protect the capital

LONDON: British police are gearing up for another night of violence amid concerns that far-right groups plan to target as many as 30 locations around the United Kingdom on Wednesday following a week of rioting and disorder.
Authorities are mobilizing about 6,000 specially trained officers this week to respond to disorder throughout the UK, and London’s Metropolitan Police Service said it would do “everything in our power” to protect the capital.
“We know about the events planned by hateful and divisive groups across the capital,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine of the Met said late Tuesday. “They’ve made their intention to cause disruption and division very clear … We will not tolerate this on our streets.”
UK cities and towns across have been wracked by violence for the past week as angry mobs egged on by far-right extremists have clashed with police and counterdemonstrators sparked by the spread of misinformation about the identity of the suspect in a stabbing rampage that killed three young girls in the seaside community of Southport. The suspect was falsely identified as an immigrant and a Muslim.
Rioters spouting anti-immigrant slogans have attacked mosques and hotels housing asylum-seekers, with reports emerging of violent counterattacks in some communities.
Internet chat groups have shared a list of law firms specializing in immigration and advice agencies as possible targets for gatherings Wednesday. The messages have invited people to “mask up” if attending.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a second consecutive meeting of the government’s COBRA emergency response committee on Tuesday to coordinate the response to the crisis, which he has described as “far-right thuggery.”
Police have already made more than 400 arrests around the country, and the government has pledged to prosecute and jail those responsible for the disorder.
The prosecutions of those who have admitted taking part in the unrest are already underway, as authorities warned severe sentences would be handed out for causing trouble. Among the first to be sentenced was Derek Drummond, 58, who was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting to violent disorder and punching a police officer in the face in Southport on July 30.
He was one of three men to be jailed in cases heard at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday.
“The three men sentenced today are the tip of the iceberg, and just the start of what will be a very painful process for many who foolishly chose to involve themselves in violent unrest,” senior district crown prosecutor Jonathan Egan said. “Many of those involved will be sent to prison for a long time.”
The government has also announced new measures to protect mosques. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a post on X that the police, city hall and community leaders are working to protect targeted buildings and places of worship.
“I know the shocking scenes have left many Muslims and minority ethnic communities scared and fearful, so I ask my fellow Londoners to check on their friends and neighbors and show them that care and compassion is what Londoners are all about,” he said. “In London, we have zero-tolerance for racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism or any form of hate.”


Russian missile hit an Egypt-bound wheat cargo ship in Black Sea: Zelensky

Russian missile hit an Egypt-bound wheat cargo ship in Black Sea: Zelensky
Updated 12 September 2024
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Russian missile hit an Egypt-bound wheat cargo ship in Black Sea: Zelensky

Russian missile hit an Egypt-bound wheat cargo ship in Black Sea: Zelensky
  • “Russia launched a strike on an ordinary civilian vessel in the Black Sea right after it left Ukrainian territorial waters,” Zelensky said
  • There were no casualties from the attack, Zelensky added, urging global condemnation after the strike

KYIV: A Russian missile on Thursday morning hit an Egypt-bound cargo ship in the Black Sea carrying wheat, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The Black Sea is a crucial trading route for Ukraine, one of the world’s largest agricultural producers and exporters, but was turned into a naval battleground when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“Russian missile against a wheat cargo bound for Egypt ... Russia launched a strike on an ordinary civilian vessel in the Black Sea right after it left Ukrainian territorial waters,” Zelensky said in a post on social media.
There were no casualties from the attack, Zelensky added, urging global condemnation after the strike.
“Domestic stability and normal life in dozens of countries around the world are dependent on the normal and unhindered operation of our food expert corridor,” he said.
Moscow last year pulled out of a UN-brokered deal guaranteeing safe passage for Ukraine’s agricultural exports on the Black Sea, but Kyiv has carved out a maritime corridor allowing trade to continue.
Over 5,000 ships have sailed through the grain corridor since it was created, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Wednesday.
Global food prices shot up when Russia invaded Ukraine amid fears conflict in the Black Sea would hobble global food supplies.


Sweden wants to pay immigrants up to $34,000 to return: govt

Sweden wants to pay immigrants up to $34,000 to return: govt
Updated 12 September 2024
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Sweden wants to pay immigrants up to $34,000 to return: govt

Sweden wants to pay immigrants up to $34,000 to return: govt
  • As of 2026, immigrants who voluntarily return to their home countries would be eligible to receive up to $34,000

STOCKHOLM: Sweden's government said Thursday it would drastically increase grants for immigrants who choose to leave the country, in order to encourage more migrants to make the choice.
As of 2026, immigrants who voluntarily return to their home countries would be eligible to receive up to 350,000 Swedish kronor ($34,000), up from the current 10,000 kronor, the right-wing government, which is propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, said in a statement.


Polish FM sees limit on influencing Iran after Russia missiles transfer

Polish FM sees limit on influencing Iran after Russia missiles transfer
Updated 12 September 2024
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Polish FM sees limit on influencing Iran after Russia missiles transfer

Polish FM sees limit on influencing Iran after Russia missiles transfer
  • “The trouble for Poland is that Iran is already under such severe sanctions that there is not that much more that we can do,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said
  • “I’m disappointed, because we have a new president of Iran“

WARSAW: Poland’s foreign minister conceded Thursday that there were limits on how to influence Iran, already under heavy sanctions, after Tehran allegedly shipped short-range missiles to Russia to attack Ukraine.
Western powers this week imposed new sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector, including state carrier Iran Air, and Ukraine warned it may cut off relations with Tehran.
“The trouble for Poland is that Iran is already under such severe sanctions that there is not that much more that we can do,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said when asked if Poland, a staunch backer of Ukraine, would also sever ties.
He was speaking at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who on Tuesday said that Russia could start firing the Iranian missiles into Ukraine within weeks.
Western powers had warned Iran against the move, and Sikorski noted that it came shortly after Iranians elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, seen as a reformist within the cleric-run state.
“I’m disappointed, because we have a new president of Iran. He’s supposedly not as aggressive as the previous butcher of Tehran,” Sikorski said.
“But the policy of sending missiles and drones to use against Ukraine and also using similar equipment against Israel seems to be continuing.”
Poland enjoys a long history with Iran, which took in thousands of Polish civilians during World War II.
But as a close US ally, it has joined pressure campaigns against Iran, including agreeing to host a 2019 conference encouraged by then president Donald Trump that pressured Tehran.


Russia hit Red Cross vehicles in east Ukraine, killed 3: Zelensky

Russia hit Red Cross vehicles in east Ukraine, killed 3: Zelensky
Updated 12 September 2024
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Russia hit Red Cross vehicles in east Ukraine, killed 3: Zelensky

Russia hit Red Cross vehicles in east Ukraine, killed 3: Zelensky
  • “Today, the occupier attacked the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in Donetsk region,” Zelensky said
  • The attack took place in the village of Virolyubivka

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian attack on vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Thursday in his country’s east had killed three people.
“Today, the occupier attacked the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in Donetsk region,” Zelensky said.
Artillery shelling killed three Ukrainian citizens working for the ICRC and wounded another two, the Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights Dmytro Lubinets said.
The attack took place in the village of Virolyubivka, a dozen of kilometers away from the front line in Donetsk.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which routinely says it only hits military targets.
The UN Humanitarian mission to Ukraine said 50 workers were killed or injured in Ukraine in 2023, including 11 killed in the line of duty.
“Since the beginning of the year, this repeated pattern of attacks appears to have intensified,” the UN humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement in February.


The bells are back at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

The bells are back at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
Updated 12 September 2024
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The bells are back at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

The bells are back at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
  • A convoy of trucks bearing eight restored bells pulled into the huge worksite surrounding the monument Thursday on an island in the Seine River
  • They are being blessed in a special ceremony inside the cathedral

PARIS: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is getting its bells back, just in time for the medieval landmark’s reopening following a devastating 2019 fire.
A convoy of trucks bearing eight restored bells — the heaviest of which weighs more than 4 tons — pulled into the huge worksite surrounding the monument Thursday on an island in the Seine River.
They are being blessed in a special ceremony inside the cathedral before being hoisted to hang in its twin towers for the Dec. 8 reopening to the public.
Cathedral Rector Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, wearing a hardhat as he prepared to enter the cathedral and bless the bells, called them ‘’a sign that the cathedral will again resonate, and that its voice will be heard again. A sign of the call to prayer, and a sign of coming together.”
The bells will be raised one by one and tested out, but they won’t ring in full until the day of the reopening, said Philippe Jost, overseeing the massive Notre Dame reconstruction project. He called the bells’ arrival ‘’a very beautiful symbol of the cathedral’s rebirth.”
While construction on the cathedral started in the 12th century, the bronze bells damaged in the fire are from the 21st century. They were built according to historical tradition to replace older bells that had become discordant, to mark the monument’s 850th anniversary.
The cathedral’s roof and spire, which collapsed in the fire, have been replaced, and scaffolding is being gradually removed from the site.